Discrete material handling apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for handling large batch loadings of discrete material and for conveying the same to a discharge station embodies a conveyor having cooperating rigid and flexible flights simultaneously moving the material to the discharge station and while agitating the same.

United States Patent Anderson et al.

[451 Mar. 28, 1972 DISCRETE MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Inventors:Charles M. Anderson, Paris; Harry G. Boling, Millersburg, both of Ky.

Assignee: W. R. Corporation, Millersburg, Ky.

Filed: Jan. 18, 1971 Appl. No.: 107,314

US. Cl ..l98ll68 Int. Cl ..B65g 19/10 Field of Search ..l98/l09,168

[56] References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 516,960 l/l931Germany 198/168 Primary Examiner-Edward A. Sroka Attorney-William E.Sherwood [5 7] ABSTRACT Apparatus for handling large batch loadings ofdiscrete material and for conveying the same to a discharge stationembodies a conveyor having cooperating rigid and flexible flightssimultaneously moving the material to the discharge station and whileagitating the same.

8 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEBHAR28 m2 3,651,923

sum 1 or 5 INVENTORS CHARLES M. ANDERSON HARRY G. BOLING ATTORNEYPATENTEDI1AR28 I972 SHKU 2 UF 5 INVENTORS CHARLES H. ANDERSON HARRY G.BOLING ATTORNEY PATEMIfnmzs I972 SHEET 3 [IF 5 ATTORNEY PATENTEUMAR281972 8, 651 ,923

sum u UF 5 INVISNTORS CHARLES M. ANDERSON HARRY G. BOLING BY WM ATTORNEYmTl-jminmzs 1972 3, 651 ,923

SHEET 5 0F 5 FIG. 6

KLA \\l k K 10-1 94 \87 79 79 \88 fi FIG. 7 FIG. 8

INVENTOR CHARtES M. ANDERSON HARRY 6. some BY M) E ATTORNEY BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION In the handling of materials such as coal, ore, rock orthe like wherein large batch loadings of the discrete form of materialare to be conveyed to a discharge station at a substantially constantrate it is customary to employ equipment having a large hopper portioncommunicating with a smaller discharge chute portion and with acontinuous conveyor travelling through the two portions and propellingthe material therealong. The conveyor flights not only propel thematerial but also serve to gather the discrete material for passage intothe chute portion. When such flights move in a converging path asdisclosed, for example, in Schaeffer U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,210 or SchreyerU.S. Pat. No. 3,063,545 excessive maintenance work often results fromwear of the conveyor chains, jamming of the flights by lumps of materialadjusting of the chains to maintain synchronization of flight movements,or the like. Moreover, apparatus of this type often is employed in mineswherein limited space is a consideration resulting in the need for acompact form of equipment and limiting the options for the type ofconveyor which may be used.

In addition when the conveyor comprises uniform shaped flights only andmoving axially of the hopper and chute portions as shown in AndersonU.S. Pat. No. 3,221,865 or Jamison U.S. Pat. No. 3.044,640, supplementalmeans usually are needed to regulate the flow of material through thechoke region at the entrance to the chute portion. The present inventionhas as its purpose the provision of an improved apparatus wherebydisadvantages associated with apparatus of the above-mentioned type maybe overcome.

SUMMARY The material feeder of the invention comprises a hopper portionand a chute portion having a floor across which an endless conveyormoves in sweeping relation to the entire floor surface. The conveyorincludes centrally disposed rigid flights joined at the ends to flexibleflights which gather the material and agitate it as it moves toward thechoke region. The flexible flights collapse as they move through thechute portion after having served their gathering function, and areagain extended as they emerge at the intake end ofthe hopper.

Among the objects of the invention are the provision of a low profilematerial feeder for intermittently receiving large batch loadings ofdiscrete material and for delivering the same at a substantiallyconstant rate of discharge; the provision of conveyor equipped apparatuswhich employs a combination of rigid and flexible flights adapted tosweep the entire floor surface; the provision of an improved takeupmeans for maintaining synchronization of conveyor flights, the provisionof means for regulating the travel of collapsible conveyor flights on toand off of the floor of the material feeder, and the provision of amaterial feeder providing for sufficient agitation of the material inorder to avoid blockages at the choke region of the equipment.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become moreapparent as the description proceeds and when considered in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1A is a plan view of thedischarge section of the apparatus with parts broken away.

FIG. 1B is a complimentary plan view of the intake section of theapparatus.

FIG. 2A is a side elevation view of the discharge section of theapparatus.

FIG. 2B is a complimentary side elevation view of the intake section ofthe apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 18.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 ofFIG. IA.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 6 is a plan view partially broken away and showing the mounting ofthe sprockets at the intake end of the apparatus.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are sectional views to a larger scale and takenrespectively on line 7-7 and 88 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing one form of mounting of the conveyorflights, and

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an alternate form of mountingof theconveyor flights.

Referring first to FIGS. 1A to 2B the apparatus includes a rigid framehaving side beams 10, ll converging from the intake end of the hopperand attached respectively to parallel side beams l2, 13 leading from thechoke region to the discharge end of the machine. The side beams l2, 13are upwardly inclined toward the discharge end, and the entire frame mayconveniently be mounted on a suitable low profile track unit, havingcrawler tracks l4, l5 and with the frame being pivotable about pins I6,17 projecting laterally from the frame and engaging with plates carriedby the track unit as seen in FIG. 1A.

Affixed to the side beams is a floor along the upper surface of whichthe material is moved by an improved conveyor, later to be described,and this floor comprises a hopper portion 18 and a discharge chuteportion 19. Likewise affixed to the side beams is a bottom plate spacedfrom the floor and having a hopper portion 20 and a chute portion 21.Inclined hopper side walls 22, 23 which slope downwardly toward thefloor portion 18 and converge toward the choke region of the machinelikewise are supported by the side beams 10 and 11, as best seen in FIG.3. At their distal ends these walls are provided with throttling board"portions 24, 25 serving to direct material into the chute.

Extending from the inner edges of these throttling boards and supportedupon beams 12 and 13 respectively are parallel chute side walls 26, 27serving to direct material to the discharge end of the apparatus. Attheir forwardmost ends the side beams 12 and 13 are provided with slotswithin which a pair of bearings 28, 29 housing a head shaft 30 (FIG. 5)are detachably mounted. A sprocket 31 at one end of this shaft issuitably driven by a chain extending from a speed reducer 32 driven inturn by a motor 38 which in addition drives a conventional pump for thehydraulic system of the apparatus, Attached to and driven by the headshaft are four identical sprockets 33, 34, 35 and 36 and with thesidemost sprockets 33 and 36 being located closely adjacent therespective side beams. The central sprockets 34, 35 are symmetricallymounted on the head shaft relatively far apart in order to accommodatepassage of the rigid flights 37 of the improved conveyor of the presentinvention.

Referring now to FIG. 9 showing a portion of the conveyor moving in thedirection of the arrow and taken at an intermediate part of the hopperportion of the apparatus, it will be noted that four identical chains40, 41, 42 and 43, herein called the first, second, third, and fourthchains, engage with and are driven by the respective sprockets 33 to 36.These chains are of equal length and conveniently may be of the Side-bowBushed chain type available from Hewitt-Robbins C0., Sandusky, Ohio. Aseries of rigid solid bar flights 37 which may have any desiredcross-sectional configuration dictated by the nature of the discretematerial being transported and agitated thereby, and which are draggedalong the upper surface of the floor l8l9 have their ends mounted, as bypins 44, 45, within one of the corresponding side connectors 46, 47 ofthe roller links of the second and third chains. Extending from thecorresponding other side connectors 48, 49 of these roller links of thesame chains are lateral tangs 50, 51 to which are attached the innerends of a pair of gathering chains 52, 53 forming a pair of flexibleflights. These gathering chains also slide along the floor and have alength such that the entire width of the floor from the inlet todischarge ends will be swept by the combined rigid and flexible flightsof the conveyor. At their outer ends these flexible flights are attachedto corresponding side connectors 54, 55 of roller links of the first andfourth chains which preferably travel in advance of the links to whichthe other ends of the flexible flights are attached. This arrangementhas been found to aid in tracking of the flexible flights on to and offof the ends of the floor, and also to give a useful camming andagitating action to the discrete material being conveyed through theapparatus.

Other arrangements for mounting of the rigid and flexible flights may beemployed without departing from the invention, and as seen in FIG. onealternative may comprise a rigid flight 57 having axially extending pins58, 59 projecting through both of the connector links of thecorresponding roller links 60,61. In this alternate construction theends of the flexible flights may be secured to the ends of the pins 58,59 outboard of the roller links of the second and third chains.

Passing now to FIGS. 6 to 8, the hydraulic system associated with theapparatus includes a series of cylinders 70, 71, 72 and 73 suitablymounted on the underside of the floor portion 18 which is braced bymeans of a framework including struts 74 to 81 disposed above the bottomplate 20 to leave an unobstructed space 82 for return travel of theconveyor flights. Conduits 83 to 86 furnish pressure fluid to therespective cylinders and the piston rods of these cylinders are attachedto slides which move in the cross heads indicated generally at 87 to 90.The stationary portions of the cross heads and the described frameworkare rigidly affixed as by welding to the lower surface of the floor 18and during fabrication of the apparatus this normally is done with thefloor in inverted position.

At their slides carry yokes within which takeup sprockets 91 to 94 arejournaled for rotation in engagement with the respective chains 40 to43. Thus by regulating the supply of fluid to the cylinders the yokesmay be positioned to act as the equivalent of a conventional adjustabletail shaft. As will be noted, the axes of the side sprockets 91 and 94are disposed generally normal to the plane of the converging side beams10 and 11 thus displacing the axes of these side sprockets angularlywith respect to the axis of the head shaft whereas the axes of thecentral sprockets 92 and 93 are parallel to the axis of the head shaft30. The slides of cross heads 87 and 90 also may conveniently be carriedby supporting members attached to the inner face of the respective sidebeams, one such member being seen at 94 in FIG. 7, and the slides ofcross heads 88 and 89 may be carried by supporting members attached tothe framework.

As best seen in FIG. 3, rounded spacers 95, 96 and 97 attached to theintake end of the floor portion 18 and disposed intermediate adjacentsprockets, aid in guiding the flexible flights 52 and 53 as they aremoved from the space 82 beneath the floor 18 and into conveying positionabove that floor.

' Likewise, the rigid flights 37 are aided by the spacer 96 in similarlymoving into its conveying position above the floor. The describedconstruction provides an entry end of the apparatus which issignificantly compact as contrasted with conventional apparatus andfloor 18 may, for example, be about nine inches from the ground leveland with the intake edge of the bottom plate 20 being at about groundlevel. To accommodate movement of the apparatus over an uneven groundsurface, the hydraulic system includes a hopper elevating cylinder 100(FIG. 2B) which when actuated serves to tilt the discharge sectiondownwardly and the hopper section upwardly thus to enable the track unitto move the apparatus over an obstruction.

As will be apparent, when head shaft 30 is rotated each of the fourconveyor chains above floor portions 18, 19 are pulled forwardly and thefirst and fourth chains travel closely adjacent the side beams 10 and 115. as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. As they approach the entrance to the chutethe first and second chains pass under a laterally projecting shoe 101which prevents lifting of the chains as they are directed toward theelevated discharge end of the chute and at the same time the first chain40 is bowed so as to move through that chute closely adjacent the sidebeam 12 as seen in FIG. 5. The third and fourth chains likewise passunder a corresponding shoe 102 and the fourth chain 43 also is bowed tomove closely adjacent the side beam 13. During this travel the flexibleflights have collapsed from their fully extended condition to a morecompact condition in which they can readily pass between the pairs ofsprockets 33, 34 and 35, 36 as indicated in FIG. 5. As they tumble fromthe exit end of the floor 19 they drop between forwardly projectingguides 103 to 106, FIG. 5, and are suspended so as to avoid kinking asthey are moved backward over the forward end of bottom plate 21 and intothe open space 82 beneath the floor.

Moreover, as they move rearwardly beneath the hopper position theflexible flights are extended and with the attachments to the first andfourth chains travelling in advance of the attachments to the second andthird chains. Hold down plates 110, l 11 adjacent the entrance end ofthe hopper aid in establishing proper tracking of the first and fourthchains as they leave the sprockets 91 and 94. Removable access coversone of which is indicated at 112 provide openings in the floor foraccess to the hydraulic cylinders.

During operation of the above described apparatus intermittent loads ofdiscrete material such as coal are dumped into the hopper section as theconveyor is operating. The moving centrally disposed conveyor portioneffects a general movement of that material axially forward the chuteand without the presence of the laterally located flexible flights acompacting of such material would be likely to occur at the chokeregion. However, the movement of the flexible flights is simultaneouslycausing agitation of the material and due to the described mounting ofthe flexible flights with their ends adjacent the walls being in advanceof their ends adjacent the rigid flights a camming of the materialtoward the central axis of the machine take place. This camming actionin fact continues to occur as the flexible flights in their collapsedcondition move through the chute portion of the apparatus. Accordingly,the likelihood of jamming of material at the choke region issubstantially reduced and without the necessity of providing vibratingplates or the like for avoiding that contingency. Furthermore, thetracking of the coordinated rigid and flexible flights presents noproblem as they approach and pass through the chute portion of themachine due to the collapsible nature of those flexible flights.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, tobe understood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A material feeder for intermittently receiving batch loadings ofmaterial into a hopper and delivering the same at a reduced rate ofdischarge from a chute attached to said hopper and having a width lessthan that of said hopper, an endless conveyor including second and thirdchains extending axially of said hopper and said chute and carryingcentral flights therebetween, first and fourth conveyor chains extendingalongside the walls of said hopper and said chute, flexible flightsextending respectively between said first and second chains and betweensaid third and said fourth chains, said central flights and flexibleflights during their movement being adapted to sweep acrosssubstantially all of the floor portions of said hopper and of saidchute, and means for driving said conveyor.

2. A feeder as defined in claim 1 wherein the attachments of saidflexible flights to the respective first and fourth chains are inadvance of the attachments thereof to the respective second and thirdchains.

3. A feeder as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for driving saidconveyor includes a head shaft mounted adjacent the discharge end ofsaid chute and having separate drive sprockets spaced therealong inengagement with the respective first, second, third, and fourth chains.

4. A feeder as defined in claim 3 wherein said sprockets for said secondand third chains are spaced sufficiently apart to permit passage of saidcentral flights without reduction of the effective width of the centralflights and said sprockets for said first and fourth chains are spacedto require collapsing of said flexible flights.

5. A feeder as defined in claim 3 including separate idler sprocketsmounted adjacent the intake end of said hopper in engagement with therespective first, second, third, and fourth each other thereby to adjustthe effective engagement of the idler sprockets with the respectivechains carried thereby.

8. A feeder as defined in claim 7 wherein said adjusting means includesa slidable yoke rotatably supporting the idler sprocket, and means forselectively positioning said yoke.

1. A material feeder for intermittently receiving batch loadings ofmaterial into a hopper and delivering the same at a reduced rate ofdischarge from a chute attached to said hopper and having a width lessthan that of said hopper, an endless conveyor including second and thirdchains extending axially of said hopper and said chute and carryingcentral flights therebetween, first and fourth conveyor chains extendingalongside the walls of said hopper and said chute, flexible flightsextending respectively between said first and second chains and betweensaid third and said fourth chains, said central flights and flexibleflights during their movement being adapted to sweep acrosssubstantially all of the floor portions of said hopper and of saidchute, and means for driving said conveyor.
 2. A feeder as defined inclaim 1 wherein the attachments of said flexible flights to therespective first and fourth chains are in advance of the attachmentsthereof to the respective second and third chains.
 3. A feeder asdefined in claim 1 wherein said means for driving said conveyor includesa head shaft mounted adjacent the discharge end of said chute and havingseparate drive sprockets spaced therealong in engagement with therespective first, second, third, and fourth chains.
 4. A feeder asdefined in claim 3 wherein said sprockets for said second and thirdchains are spaced sufficiently apart to permit passage of said centralflights without reduction of the effective width of the central flightsand said sprockets for said first and fourth chains are spaced torequire collapsing of said flexible flights.
 5. A feeder as defined inclaim 3 including separate idler sprockets mounted adjacent the intakeend of said hopper in engagement with the respective first, second,third, and fourth chains, the axis of the idler sprockets for saidsecond and third chains being parallel to said head shaft.
 6. A feederas defined in claim 5 wherein the axes of the idler sprockets for saidfirst and fourth chains are angularly displaced from the axis of saidhead shaft.
 7. A feeder as defined in claim 5 including means foradjusting the positioning of said idler sprockets independently of eachother thereby to adjust the effective engagement of the idler sprocketswith the respective chains carried thereby.
 8. A feeder as defined inclaim 7 wherein said adjusting means includes a slidable yoke rotatablysupporting the idler sprocket, and means for selectively positioningsaid yoke.